Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce ambulance waiting times in (a) the South West of England and (b) Gloucestershire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambulance services in Gloucestershire and the South West are provided by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, with responsibility for commissioning the services a matter for the local NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB). Specific local actions needed to reduce ambulance waiting times should be undertaken and agreed locally by National Health Service organisations in the best interests of the local population and patients.
At a national level, the Government and NHS England are committed to improving ambulance response times. The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets national priorities, which include improving accident and emergency waiting times and ambulance response times compared to 2024/25.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teachers have access to accompaniment by professionally trained companions during (a) disciplinary and (b) grievance hearings.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Employment Relations Act (ERA) 1999 states that teachers, like any other workers, are entitled to be accompanied by a colleague, a trade union employee or an official accredited by a trade union if called to a disciplinary or grievance meeting by their employer. Individuals may also ask to be accompanied by someone else, but the employer does not have to agree. The government has no plans to change that position for teachers.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the presence of asbestos at Ashchurch military barracks since 2019.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to the health and safety of our people and we have robust policies in place to safely manage asbestos in Defence in accordance with relevant legislation and Health and Safety Executive guidance. MOD complies with its legal obligation not to construct any new infrastructure containing asbestos and to maintain a risk register for legacy asbestos, treating it as appropriate.
In 2019 routine sampling identified asbestos within buildings on the Ashchurch site. The MOD immediately implemented measures and controls to reduce exposure risk and provide additional safeguards on site. Significant amounts of asbestos have now been removed and work continues to ensure any remaining asbestos is removed or made safe.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of asbestos on sites owned by his Department on (a) local communities and (b) surrounding infrastructure.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has robust policies in place to safely manage asbestos in accordance with relevant legislation and Health and Safety Executive guidance.
Where asbestos is being remediated and/ or removed from MOD sites, we notify local residents in accordance with the appropriate legislation.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with farmers on ensuring that agricultural soil health adheres to recommended guidelines to mitigate flooding.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Working with farmers and landowners is an important part of the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy Roadmap up to 2026. A priority is to support farmers and land managers adapt their land management practices to be more resilient to the changing climate. The National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association are both represented on the Flood Resilience Taskforce.
The Rural Flood Resilience Partnership unites six organisations including the Environment Agency, to support agricultural businesses and rural communities. The Partnership and its workplan was launched on the 23 September 2024. This details shared actions to look at how farming practices can enhance flood resilience in rural areas, alongside sustainable food production.
In addition, the Government’s ongoing investment in the environment will also support natural flood management measures – including measures that support soil health.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support all-weather sports facilities in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) rural areas.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities, and that high-quality, inclusive facilities help ensure everyone has access to sport.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.
We are also supporting more players in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which has invested £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25. Projects include funding for artificial grass pitches, floodlights, and maintenance machinery, helping sites to improve availability all year round. Funding from the Programme continues to be invested in England through our delivery partner, the Football Foundation. This funding is structured so that areas that need it most are prioritised, taking both local inactivity rates and deprivation into account.
The Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs). These plans have been developed in partnership with local authorities and are in the process of being refreshed to reflect the current landscape. The existing LFFP for Tewkesbury can be found here.
The Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024 committed the Government to continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure schools in rural areas have access to full fibre broadband.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises, including schools, that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.
Alongside connecting premises through a series of Project Gigabit contracts across the UK, we are currently delivering a specific project in partnership with the Department for Education which is set to give a further 780 schools access to a fast, reliable broadband connection.
Earlier government-funded programmes have already delivered gigabit-capable connections to over 2,400 schools.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote women’s sport in Tewkesbury constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport.
We want to break down the barriers that exist and prevent women and girls from being active including but not limited to kit, facilities, time and cost. This Girl Can, which recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, is an inspiring campaign that has promoted women’s sport, challenged prejudice and made clear that sport is for everyone.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Separately, as a government, we are investing £123 million in inclusive grassroots sport facilities that will support more women and girls to take part in the sports that they love.
In the last financial year, 2023-24, Sport England awarded £50,834 to the Tewkesbury constituency.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on financial deficits within police constabularies in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement and represents a 6% cash terms increase and 3.5% real terms increase in funding.
It is the responsibility of locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) and Chief Constables to set a balanced budget and to publish information to enable the local public to assess the performance of the police force.
PCCs in consultation with the Chief Constable are responsible for identifying and agreeing a medium-term financial strategy which includes funding and spending plans for both revenue and capital. This strategy should have regard to affordability and take into account multiple years, the inter-dependencies of revenue budgets and capital investments, the role of reserves and the consideration of risks.
The Home Office works closely with the policing sector to monitor force financial pressures, which includes reviewing the published Medium Term Financial Plans.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of lowering the National Insurance contribution threshold to £5,000 on small businesses that employ part time employees.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances.
One of the toughest decisions we took was to raise the rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%, whilst reducing the per-employee threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) from £9,100 to £5,000.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that next year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of Bill containing the changes to employer NICs, setting out the impact of the policy.